Nigella

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What are your favourite recipes from Nigella’s books, ideally either sweet or vegetarian.

I like her vegetable chilli and mattar paneer recipes, although I add lots more spices to the latter.

Her Chocolate Guinness cake is magnificent.

I really wish I could like this but tomatoes with aubergines would be one of my nightmare meals!

i forgot the Forgotten Pudding! That’s my go to when I need something simple and I have no time on the day I have guests.

@RampantIvyI tried the ottolenghi confit chickpeas tonight after reading a few recommendations. Whilst it was really tasty, the amount of oil made me feel a bit sick! How much less have you found you can get away with? Also, I bought very cheap chickpeas. I found them to be quite hard despite the cooking time. Do you leave yours to cook longer? Or do you think more expensive chickpeas might soften more? Sorry lots of questions!

Yule log is amazing especially if you need gluten-free. Also love her breakfast bars, DH eats one every day! Also always make her method for roasties.

Not veggie but her pomegranate lamb is delicious.

Are the breakfast bars in Nigella Express?

I believe so! They’re also on her website.

I tried it with half the amount of oil then cut it down to a third, which I think is plenty.

I think it is worth paying more for nicer chickpeas, so I use a jar of Queen chickpeas. It really is worth buying the nicer chickpeas IMO. You can buy them in most supermarkets.

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/318176267?srsltid=AfmBOorQBfBITuyk1OFm4qdI2La6ZNXiBP7GbC7qy4b2lGtBAq5B3mx_

I frequently make the London cheesecake. It really easy and tasty. If I'm asked to bring a dessert, it's my first choice.

White chocolate and cranberry cookies from Nigella Christmas, I’m not much of a baker but I make these every year 😋

I cook this a lot and use more oil than recommended to siphon it off for other things. I cook it for longer and slower than recommended. I've used posh chickpeas and cheap chickpeas and all turn out fabulous

The easy almond cake and the choc-cherry cupcakes are both lovely. Though I make the cupcakes much smaller than she suggests.

There was a whole thread about this a while back. It prompted me to try it and I think it is my favourite vegetarian dish ever.

I have been making her old fashioned chocolate cake for my kids birthdays for 15 years. It is gorgeous.

@RampantIvythank you so much for the answers. I will try a third next time. There’s another recipe by Ottolenghi for black tofu I think it is that uses an eye watering amount of butter that I always cut down. I like a bit of butter and oil but that felt way too much for me. Will try those chick peas too. Thanks for taking the time to answer. Saves a lot of time experimenting.

Also make her meatballs a couple of times a month and her rocky roads are fab

@soupyspoonthat’s a good idea about siphoning it off. It would be very tasty. Do you use it for anything in particular?

I also make those confit chickpeas quite regularly. My rule with most ottolenghi recipes is to halve the oil, including that one. I love oil but not as much as him!

I get cheap dried chickpeas and soak and cook them myself. They’ve always turned out well. We eat legumes every day, though, so they don’t sit in the cupboard for long. I think the older they are, the longer they take to cook.

I love the Margarita ice cream. I make it quite often. I have also substituted limoncello for the Cointreau and Tequila and lemon juice for the lime juice making limoncello ice cream.

I've not made this particular recipe - but if chickpeas are the focal point I definitely think it's worth spending a bit more (unless you're very organised & have cooked lots from good-quality dried ones, which I rarely remember to do ...!). There's an article each week in The Guardian's Feast supplement on Saturday, called The Filter, where someone surveys supermarket basic/high-end versions of staples. This is the one they did for chickpeas:

https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2025/may/10/best-chickpeas-taste-test-rukmini-iyer

I think it's best to go for slightly larger ones for baking/roasting, in case they shrink a bit. The big "posh" jars aren't that scarily expensive when you see that they're usually double the amount of a tin. Of the tinned ones, the Cirio ones I find decent for cooking with.

Her meringue gelato with chocolate is so good. I always make her Yule log at Christmas.
Editing to also add her potato and pepper bake is very easy but really tasty.

Birthday brownies

Thsnk you for posting that link @EleanorMc67
I really rate Rukmini Iyer and have several of her recipe books.

Devil's food cake (Kitchen)
Chocolate chip cookies (Kitchen)
Bitter orange ice-cream (Bites)- I freeze Saville orange zest and juice every January to make this for summer BBQs
Fairy cakes (Domestic Goddess)
Butter cut-out biscuits (Domestic Goddess)
Blondies (Kitchen)
Apple tart (Express)
Roast ham hocks (Kitchen)
Alsace chicken au Reisling (Express)

All made on rotation in this house

Thanks for the recommendations, im noting ones to try!

My favourite cookery writer, not just for the lovely writing style, but because her recipes almost always work, and her relaxed attitude to swapping stuff around is exactly how I am in the kitchen.

I like Strawberry and Almond Crumble. Can’t remember which book.
I didn’t think cooked strawberries would work but they do. This is a good recipe if you get tempted by strawberries out of season and they are hard!

His black pepper tofu is great, but I use hardly any of the butter he recommends. I can’t imagine that much would be at all nice.